Northwestern Medical Center's Transition to MEDITECH 6.16 - a Few Words ...


Hello, my name is Jodi Frei. I am the Manager of Organizational Informatics at Northwestern Medical Center (NMC), a forward thinking community based hospital in northern Vermont. I am also the Project Manager for NMC's transition from MEDITECH 6.07 to 6.16. We take our mission of providing exceptional care to the community seriously, and we understand how valuable the MEDITECH EMR is in this process. 

NMC decided to move forward as early adopters for 6.16, Web Acute/ED, as a means of transitioning our ED from a best in breed product to MEDITECH.  We embraced the idea of being a part of future MEDITECH physician module build.

Physicians use the EMR to view patient data, order, and, document. NMC's providers, both Acute and ED, have had numerous opportunities as early adopters, to provide feedback to MEDITECH's development team in regard to 6.16 functionality that impacts these three functions: viewing data, ordering, and documenting. 

MEDITECH recently invited three NMC providers on site to explore the new system, to simulate patient scenarios, and to provide valuable insight as to how intuitive the system was to be built. This was a great opportunity for our providers. Now when other NMC providers ask me who built the Web Acute/ED platform, I am pleased to respond that many physicians, including our own, helped to build the product.


WebAcute/ED is only a portion of our journey to 6.16. We are working closely with MEDITECH to implement new functionality, new workflows, and new communication means all associated with 6.1. We are also using this as an opportunity to rethink the build and workflow that we put in place with our big bang MEDITECH go live in 2010 (to 6.0). There are lots of moving parts. We are managing conversions, report rewrites, interface testing, rebuilt modules, updated modules, and a completely new build for our ED.  

We are doing all of this amidst a major master facility/construction project that is growing our facility in exciting ways. The transition to 6.1 requires focus, attention to detail and deadlines, collaboration at all levels, openness to change, and positive attitudes. I am proud to say that NMC is delivering on all of the above!

Stay tuned for details on a fall MUSE Site Visit to NMC so you can see and hear about the 6.16 details first-hand! 

Jodi Frei, PT, MSMIIT
Manager of Clinical Informatics
Northwestern Medical Center
St Albans, VT 05478
(802) 524-1269

I Call Myself Nurse ...

By: Corey Tillyer, Executive Director, Health Care Information Systems
Planning, Informatics & Analytics - Fraser Health Authority

MUSE International, Board Chair 

I am a hospital trained registered nurse. I lived in Vancouver General Hospital nursing residence for three years while learning to become a registered nurse. When I finished my training, I worked as a medical-surgical nurse in direct care for 13 years. During that time, I attended the University of Victoria and completed a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree.

Because of my med-surg generalist nursing knowledge I was asked to work on a nursing documentation system project in 1996. You know ... back in the good old days when the internet was just coming to us common folk via the modem. It was supposed to be a temporary assignment bringing nursing knowledge to the IT team who were implementing MEDITECH's NUR module. Well - here I am many years later and as it turns out, I did not go back to my med-surg position. Instead I started down a career path I did not initially intend for myself, a career path that didn't really exist when I graduated from nursing school.

I have recently become sensitive to the fact that some people no longer consider me a nurse because I work in clinical informatics. For some reason, my nursing knowledge and experience have somehow disappeared because I have joined an ancillary service, an area that supports those giving direct care. But I do not understand why this is the case? In 1992, the American Nurses Association deemed nursing informatics as a specialty nursing practice.

Canada followed suit several years later with the Canadian Nurses Association releasing a position statement called, "Nursing information and knowledge management."  Clearly our North American Nursing associations have deemed informatics as a speciality within nursing practice.

Nursing education today centers around both clinical and IT-related specialties. Did you know that MUSE International is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation? I am very delighted to be the Lead Nurse for the MUSE Organization.

With my nursing cap firmly in place, I review all MUSE presentations and content to assess if it meets the requirements as high-quality nursing education.  Once I have ensured all criteria are met, MUSE is able to provide continuing education credit hours to nurses who attend qualifying sessions. This role allows me to combine my education, experience and skills.

I am so honoured that MUSE has given me the opportunity to give back to the calling that lives in my soul. I proudly call myself Nurse.

Decision

35,000. Seem like a big number? I guess it depends on the context. Researchers estimate that is how many decisions an average American adult makes each day. Most of these decisions are barely noticeable - from scratching an itch and scooting your chair closer to your desk, to what to eat and where to park your car.

Your ability to decide is the most powerful tool you possess to shape your life and impact your world. Your choices and decisions matter more than where you were born, what you look like or the size of your bank account.

 

When you make a choice, you rely on your intuition and experience to guide you. You examine if you’ve been in a similar situation and you tap into your feelings on the matter.  As a healthcare IT professional, you are constantly making decisions that impact others, as well as yourself. But, how do you choose to spend your time? What factors do you consider when you are deciding what events to attend? With a limited amount of time, you certainly consider these decisions carefully.

Each year, MUSE offers you the opportunity to attend the International Conference where you can gain valuable resources for your professional development, knowledge base, and your hospital.  But, what influences your choice?  You may have to choose between this conference or another one. You might have to consider using your personal vacation time, or maybe footing the travel bill yourself. But perhaps you just have to choose to attend.

So, why should you choose to be a part of the 2016 International MUSE Conference?

Because this is where you:

• Network with other MEDITECH users
• Learn about solutions
• Hear about others' experiences
• Share your experiences
• Gain professional development
• Meet others in your profession
• Earn Continuing Education Credits

There is something for everyone with more than 120 education sessions featuring some of 2016’s hottest topics. Don’t miss out on what could be the most productive and valuable three days of your year. You can see conference details here: http://www.museweb.org/Events/2016-International-MUSE-Conference/Conference-Education

So, let me help you with one of those 35,000 decisions today. This one is simple – register and attend the 2016 International MUSE Conference. Now, you just have 34,999 left today! You’re welcome.  Register now: museweb.org/Events/2016-International-MUSE-Conference/Registration-Information.

See you in Orlando,

Alicia Roberts